Thill-coupling



I (No Model.)

F. M. WATERS.

THILL COUPLING. N0. 322,510. Patent'ed'July 21,1885.

W EEEEEH Iwqu UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS M. \VATERS, OF ASHMORE, ILLINOIS.

THlLL-COUPLING.

SPECIPIOATIN formingpart of Letters Patent No. 322,510, dated July 21, 1885.

Application filed June 8, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS M. WATERs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ashmore, inthe county of Ooles and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Thin-Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved means for coupling thills or a draft-pole to a carriageaxle.

The object of my improvement is to provide an improved coupling which maybe easily made, quickly operated, and in which there shall be no loose or separate couplingbolts.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is afront elevation. Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of a modification of my device.

That portion of the coupling which is permanently attached to the axle consists of a flat bar, A, having one end secured to the axle by a clip, b, and the other end coiled upward and backward upon itself to form the,

open bearing 0.

B is the thill-iron,which is forked and providedwith a fixed bolt, (1, permanently secured therein and adapted to engage the bearing a.

S is a stirrup arranged to swing loosely upon the bolt d, and adapted to pass over the coiled end of bar A, and to engage the under side of the bar whenbolt d rests in bearing 0, thereby retaining the thill-iron in place when coupled.

D is a flat spring, suitably secured to bar A and arranged to hold stirrup S in position when the coupling is engaged.

In the modification shown in Fig. 3, the

forked parts are reversed, the coiled portion of bar A being divided, and the thill-iron leftsolid.

In operation the stirrup is extended back- U ward toward the axle, in the position shownin dotted lines, Fig.1. The thili-iron is then placed over the coiled end of bar A, the bolt passing downward between said coil and the axle, then forward and upward, passing between the coils of A till the bolt rests in the bearing 0. Stirrup S is now swung upward and forward in,

the direction indicated by the arrow passing around the outside of the coil in A, till the stirrup reaches a point directly beneath the bearing a. The stirrup is of such length that when this point is reached, the inside of the stirrup rests against the under side of bar A,

thus holding bolt cl securely downward and preventing it from being raised out of the ranged to co-operate substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a thill-coupling, bar A, coiled, as de' scribed, to form the bearing 0, and adapted to be secured to the axle, thill-iron B, bolt (1, stirrupS, and spring D, all combined and arranged to cooperate substantially as and for the purpose specified.

FRANCIS M. WATERS.

\Vitnesses:

VANCE ARTERBURN, LoU. ROBERTSON. 

